Helpful Links

“If you are doing other projects or just want to learn more about lawmaking and government, check out these online resources. If you locate others that you think kids or teachers would like, let us know and we may add them to this site.”

http://www.actionforchange.org
“Raise Your Voice, Student Action for Change,” an initiative of Campus Compact. Funded by Pew Charitable Trusts and based at Brown University, the “Raise Your Voice” site is “dedicated to connecting, challenging, and supporting college and university students in community work, activism, leadership and civic growth.” Helpful to advanced students interested in service learning and opportunities for community involvement.

http://www.apsanet.org .
American Political Science Association (APSA), world's largest professional organization for the study of politics. Includes Civic Education Network with resources for teachers at all levels, divided into four levels: recent reports and scholarly essays, civic education organizations, teaching and research resources, and student civic engagement surveys and data.

http://www.arsalyn.org/dia.asp
Arsalyn Program, a non-partisan program of the Ludwick Family Foundation. Promotes youth civic and political engagement. Lessons encourage “Democracy in Action” projects that bring high school students into elementary schools to address key aspects of American citizenship.

http://www.civiced.org
Center for Civic Education. Thorough listing of sites in the following categories: Civics and Government, Educational Resources, United States Government and Law, United States Politics, International Culture, Law, and Politics, Media, Reference and Research.

http://www.civics.unc.edu
University of North Carolina Civic Education Consortium. Describes the consortium partners, offers resources for teachers, and posts information about the North Carolina Statewide Civic Index.

http://www.civnet.org
A website of Civitas International. Introduced in 1995 and managed by the Center for Civic Education as “an online resource and service for civic education practitioners (teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum designers) as well as scholars, policymakers, civic-minded journalists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting civic education all over the world.” Unique international electronic resource.

http://www.crf-usa.org
Constitutional Rights Foundation, a “non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization dedicated to educating America's young people about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society.” Includes online lessons, programs and materials. Site identified as a “PBS TeacherSource” and “Best of the Web for Teachers!”

http://www.indiana.edu/~ssdc/civlinks.htm
Website maintained by the Social Studies Development Center. Provides links to resources in civic education, law-related education, and government. Useful internet resources for educators, researchers, and citizen groups.

http://www.iop.harvard.edu/events_national_campaign.html
The Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. A National Campaign to bring civic education to younger students through partnerships with schools that promote civic education in their communities.

http://www.iscv.org/Civic_Values/Civic_Education/civic_education.html
Institute for the Study of Civic Values, established in 1973, “works to strengthen democracy by building grassroots movements to insure ‘the consent of the governed' through active citizen participation at all levels of government.” Site has links to online discussion guides, publications on civic literacy, and civic and political education.

http://www.justicelearning.org
Collaboration of NPR's Justice Talking and The New York Times Learning Network. “Engages visitors in high-quality, balanced discussions on timely topics related to law and justice.” Incorporates six navigational elements, including links to The New York Times Learning Network Lesson Plans for grades 6-12 and Justice Talking Listening and Learning Guide.

http://www.lwv.org
League of Women Voters. Site demonstrates League's longstanding focus on civic participation and civic education and knowledge, with special attention to voter information.

http://www.multistate.com/site.nsf/state?OpenPage
MultiState Associates Inc. Lists State Legislative Presence on the Internet for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

http://www.cived.net/req_guid.html
National Alliance for Civic Education (NACE). “Launched in 2000 with more than 80 group and individual charter members committed to advancing civic knowledge and engagement.” Surveys states' mandates for civic education and advocates for service learning, civic requirements and guidelines, and teacher preparation.

http://www.ncsl.org/public/trust/democracylesson/Overview_democracylesson.htm
National Council of State Legislatures. Provides a detailed lesson plan, “Appreciating Democracy,” for high school teachers of civics, government and U.S. history. Includes background, objectives, and methods, with optional assignments, assessment, and additional resources.

http://www.pa.lwv.org/kat/intro/demaction.html
Kids Around Town (KAT) program in Pennsylvania. “Develops in young citizens a range of skills and strategies for understanding public policy and participating directly in their community's decision-making processes.” Includes information on the KAT Model and opportunities for resource exchange among teachers.

http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
State and Local Government on the Net. Provides a directory of official state, county and city government websites. Lists 9290 government sites. Provides quick access to websites of state government constitutional officers, legislatures, state judiciaries and departments across all states

http://www.stateofthevote.org/index.html
The New Millennium Young Voters Project, sponsored by the National Association of Secretaries of State. Provides answers to Who? What? Why? How? and Where? of voting, with information about elections in all 50 states.

http://www.thisnation.com/legislative2.html
ThisNation, The American Government & Politics Portal. Includes an extensive glossary of legislative terms and an interactive illustration of the legislative process at the national level.

http://www.usd.edu/chiesman/resources.html
The Allene R. Chiesman Fund for Civic Education at the University of South Dakota . Fund established for “promoting civic education with special attention to creating a greater awareness of the meaning of democracy and democratic ideals, to the role of law and the nature of citizenship in a democratic society, and to the relationship of economics and democracy.” Site includes Civic Education Internet Resources organized into 5 useful sections.

http://www.vanishingvoter.org/about.shtml
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. A project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University . Proposes to “reinvigorate the presidential campaign through research-based proposals designed to improve its structure.” Particularly geared to national campaign issues.

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com
Yahooligans! The Web Guide for Kids. Provides kid-friendly resources in a variety of topic areas, including geography, science & nature, arts & entertainment and sports & recreation. Has Parents' Guide and Teachers' Guide and useful daily news updates.

This page has been assembled only for the purposes of this project. The Secretary of State's Office is not responsible for the contents of these sites, and their presence on this list should not be viewed as an endorsement.